United Nations Staff Compensation: Analyses, Comparisons, and Sustainability Issues

148 Pages·2015·1.694 MB·English

by  Lorraine Norris

GOVERNMENT PROCEDURES AND OPERATIONS

U N S
NITED ATIONS TAFF
C
OMPENSATION

A , C ,
NALYSES OMPARISONS AND
SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES

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G P
OVERNMENT ROCEDURES AND
O
PERATIONS

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GOVERNMENT PROCEDURES AND OPERATIONS

U N S
NITED ATIONS TAFF
C
OMPENSATION

A , C ,
NALYSES OMPARISONS AND
SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES

LORRAINE NORRIS
EDITOR

New York
Copyright © 2014 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

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CONTENTS

Preface vii
Chapter 1 United Nations: Key Compensation Elements Should
Be Reviewed to Address Costs and Sustainability 1
United States Government Accountability Office
Chapter 2 UN Compensation: United Nations Should Clarify
the Process and Assumptions Underlying Secretariat
Professional Salaries 69
United States Government Accountability Office
Index 133

PREFACE

The UN General Assembly has expressed concerns about the relatively
large and growing portion of the UN budget spent on total compensation. The
United States contributes 22 percent of the UN’s regular budget. UN total
compensation consists of salary, benefits, and allowances. Since its inception
in 1945, the UN has based salaries for its professional employees on salaries
for the U.S. civil service. This book examines similarities between UN and
U.S. government benefits and allowances and compares their monetary values,
and examines UN efforts to address concerns about the sustainability of total
compensation costs.
Chapter 1 - The UN General Assembly has expressed concerns about the
relatively large and growing portion of the UN budget spent on total
compensation. The United States contributes 22 percent of the UN’s regular
budget.
UN total compensation consists of salary, benefits, and allowances. Since
its inception in 1945, the UN has based salaries for its professional employees
on salaries for the U.S. civil service. In 2013, GAO reported that the UN sets
its salaries between 110 to 120 percent of U.S. civil service salaries, and that
UN salaries were 116.9 percent of U.S. civil service salaries in 2012. UN
salaries increased to 119.6 percent in 2013. GAO also recommended that the
UN clarify its process for comparing salaries for UN professional staff with
U.S. civil service salaries.
GAO was asked to review the structure of UN total compensation and
how it compares with that of U.S. federal employees. This report (1) examines
similarities between UN and U.S. government benefits and allowances and
compares their monetary values, and (2) examines UN efforts to address
concerns about the sustainability of total compensation costs. GAO reviewed
viii Lorraine Norris
UN and U.S. government documents and data, and interviewed UN and U.S.
officials.
Chapter 2 - Several UN member states have expressed concern that UN
employee salaries are increasing, and that they have limited understanding of
how the UN determines salaries. ICSC determines salaries for Secretariat
professional staff according to the Noblemaire Principle, which states that
compensation should be high enough to attract civil servants internationally. In
practice, the UN bases salaries for employees on salaries for U.S. civil service
employees. The General Assembly has stipulated that salaries should be
between 110 and 120 percent of U.S. salaries. The UN and the U.S.
government also offer employees benefits and allowances.
GAO was asked to review UN compensation. The report examines (1)
how the UN sets salaries for Secretariat professional staff; (2) how the UN
compares its employees’ salaries with U.S. civil service salaries, including the
assumptions underlying its process: and (3) how benefits and allowances
provided to UN employees compare with those provided to U.S. civil service
employees. GAO analyzed UN and U.S. government documents and
interviewed U.S. and UN officials and other stakeholders.